Bubba Copeland shot himself in front of police on Friday, days after he begged 1819 News not to expose his private life.
A small-town Alabama pastor and mayor killed himself Friday, days after a local conservative news website published a story that included photos of him wearing women’s clothing and makeup.
F.L. “Bubba” Copeland, who was the mayor of Smiths Station and the pastor at First Baptist Church in Phenix City, shot himself in front of police during a welfare check, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said.
Copeland’s private life was exposed Wednesday by the conservative blog 1819 News, which was once owned by the right-wing Alabama Policy Institute and whose top editor is a former Breitbart News contributor.
This, in a nutshell, why people become conservative. Because shame and a toxic community keep them from being who they really want to be. Because they need to belong to something so badly that they'll even join a gang of bigots rather than admit they're actually the target of that bigotry.
I wouldn’t feel as bad if he was a raging bigot about lgbtq issues, but apparently he didn’t have much to say about that which is pretty impressive for a BAPTIST PREACHER IN ALABAMA.
Yeah, he obviously dealt with a lot of cognitive dissonance between his experience and the culture he was raised in. He wasn’t some hypocrite who was preaching ‘family values’ or some other nonsense, just a tortured soul driven over the edge.
The world just lost another potential ally. He could have helped shape the discourse in his town for the better, but instead he’s being buried. This is a sad day.
I wish more people understood this. Seems like so many are simply incapable of accepting any nuance anymore. Everything is binary. This or That. With me or against me.
True, but the article did indicate that they were posting as a trans woman. Maybe she’s trans, maybe he’s a cis crossdresser, either way what did they expect.
The problem with people is that some are idiots. Regardless of what group you’re in you’ve got some really stupid assholes. Or as their fellow republicans will see them: useful idiots
IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS! If people won't listen to Jesus, maybe they can listen to his modern day apostle Fred Rogers when he said "I like you just the way you are."
maybe they can listen to his modern day apostle Fred Rogers when he said “I like you just the way you are.”
Right. That would be Presbyterian minister, children's show host, gave-out-full-size-candy-bars-at-Halloween Fred Rogers, yes? The one that Fox went out of their way to describe as "an evil, evil man" who was [in effect] responsible for corrupting today's youth? Well, sadly, I think I can explain why they don't listen to Mr. Rogers ...
They do listen to Jesus. Not the Middle-Eastern Jewish Socialist Jesus. They listen to white racist Conservative American Jesus, they listen to Supply Side Jesus, they listen to the Jesus who can fit a rich man through the eye of a needle and who's death gives them the right to sin.
It’s even worse than that. No one knows the story at all but they all have a fully developed opinion from reading the headline.
Maybe some of the locals whose children he posted to pornographic websites won’t miss him.
Maybe the local businesswoman he obsessed over while he wrote stories about killing her, seducing her husband, and stealing her life won’t miss him.
It is scary how easy it is to get people to rally over things they know nothing about. I’m not holier than thou either. I’ve caught myself reacting before thinking.
Edit:
I want to make it clear that I wish this person had got help. I definitely feel empathy for this person, I just don’t think that the cross dressing is the primary issue here. This person was public figure posting deranged and terrible things online using real people from his town as objects of fantasy.
Hate post》skip if you want to save yourself some time
What a bunch of retarded mother fuckers. They have so much fear of being who they are around the people they align themselves with, that they will literally anhero themselves the second anything comes out about them that they and the rest of the party isn't doing themselves; or have built such a strong vindictive campaign against a community against, that they take their own lives out of guilt. Crossdressing? Dead. Outed gay? Dead. Dating someone who's friends with gays, needs baptism by fire. Not Christian?Avoided. Fucking kids? God forgives. Beating kids? God forgives. Killing kids? The jury is out. Hears out the other side? Crucified. Dissagrees with problems within their own party? Needs to die. Supporting the businesses of murdering/abandoning children? Political points. Hate speech and dillusional manipulation of the angry and mentally unstable base that follows them? BIG political boost. Be revealed as the person you really are, after you've sold your soul to a hateful political party you know will crucify you for being the thing they target for sensational political favor? Fucking anhero quick.
Why? What's the point? What is the point, the ultimate goal, of building a pyre of political beliefs that will scorch the entirety of everything around you and the weell-being of the future of those and many more to come? Especially when you know it goes against who you really are deep down, and how it may affect you if/when the tides turn...
I hate this party so much. I understand the reasons why they do the things they do. I understand why they believe in the things they believe. But, I just can't tolerate it anymore. I have empathy for these people in these situations, but I also have an understanding.
If two of your friends were in a relationship, that was symbolically the most dearest thing to your heart, and over time you noticed one of them becoming more cynical/violent/abusive/hateful/radical/corrupt/etc. While the other was hernestly trying to fix and build the relationship they know they were stuck in to male things better; not only for themselves but better for everyone around them... would you stand there, silent, absent of action and rationality?
I hate the fact that our system, our country, is in the volatile condition that it's in. I know you do too.
Vote, protest, listen, communicate, have patience, fight. Those are your options. Just choose wisely and try to follow that order I guess.
It's people saying shit like this that is part of the problem. While the left is generally much more accepting than the right our community needs to be better about accepting people who don't share all our beliefs. Maybe that way when they start to become more progressive and can help bring other people over that have some fledgling left wing values in them.
Purportedly, he wasn't a hypocrite. He didn't hold or express anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment. I would consider that a loss since he's probably going to be replaced by one of the bigoted politicians.